Fourteen of the building's 16 units were occupied, but firefighters said no one was hurt in yesterday's fire. MIKE MORONES/THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Spotsylvania firefighters work to douse a blaze at the Brittany Commons apartment complex in Spotsylvania yesterday morning. No one was injured, but the fire left a 16-unit apartment building uninhabitable. MIKE MORONES/THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Fire damages apartments at Brittany Commons in Spotsylvania County

By KELLY HANNON

Date published: 8/19/2007

Fire engulfed an apartment building early yesterday at Brittany Commons near Spotsylvania's Courthouse Road.

No injuries were reported, but 14 families were displaced.

The fire was so fierce that firefighters were unable at first to access two of the building's 16 apartments for safety reasons, said Chief Richard Cantillon of Chancellor Volunteer Fire and Rescue. Eventually firefighters were able to reach all of the apartments.

Quelling the fire required multiple firetrucks from two jurisdictions, all pumping water into the three-story building for more than an hour. Firefighters remained at the scene until 3 p.m.

All of the apartments suffered fire, water or smoke damage.

Twice, rescue workers were evacuated from the structure out of fear it could collapse, Cantillon said.

"There was 3 to 4 inches of water on the second floor," he said.

Brittany Commons resident Angela Tsai made a 911 call at 6:10 a.m. to report the fire. She lives on the second floor of the building that burned, 10111 and 10113 Ravenscourt Drive.

Tsai thinks the fire started in an apartment above her. She saw smoke around her ceiling, and heard her upstairs neighbor's fire alarm.

She grabbed her dog, Oscar, and fled. She met most of her neighbors already outside.

Tsai was supposed to move to a new residence in Spotsylvania County in four days.

"This is just horrible," Tsai said, watching the building burn from a patch of grass across the street.

Firefighters did not know the cause of the fire last night. An investigation was under way, Cantillon said.

"The building will not be inhabitable for a while," Cantillon said.

The American Red Cross was assisting displaced residents.

Brittany Commons requires residents to maintain rental insurance liability coverage, according to an apartment lease.

Yesterday's fire was the second structure fire in three years at the apartment complex. A December 2004 fire damaged an apartment building across the street from the site of the current fire. That fire was caused by a string of outdoor Christmas lights that overheated, destroying six apartments.

The Spotsylvania Volunteer Fire Department, Spotsylvania Volunteer Rescue Squad, Chancellor Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Fredericksburg Fire Department and state police responded to the fire.

Date published: 8/19/2007